weak lower spincter

Ask your doctor to check you for Eosinophilic Esophagitis. GERD symptoms that don't respond to PPI's may be due to EE or other allergic issues. More info can be found at http://www.apfed.org/

Also, have you tried ginger root tea? It is supposed to help tighten the Lower Esophageal Sphincter. To make tea, get some fresh raw ginger root. Cut a 1/2-1 inch chunk off (peel it if you want) and put in a pan with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Sip tea slowly throughout the day. Alternatively, you can take ginger pieces raw and eat them, but they're kind-of strang that way.

Good luck,

I was told this as well but never had the test done to measure the muscle pressure.  Get the test done if you can. Apparently they can test the muscle and see if it's really weak. There is also a small bowel study you can do as well and xrays to check for blockages. 

What I ended up doing is going on a liquid diet and very mushy solid diet to stop the GERD break throughs.  Basically I fasted a day then started drinking Ensure and eat soups, eggs, etc.  This has been giving me relief as my stomach cannot handle normal food because it feels like it's on fire on some days but the drug Carafate seems to help with that and I think it's slowly getting better. (I actually ate a normal dinner the other night.)  I am also taking Xanax sometimes and that seems to help as well. As for the PPI's - I've tried them all (Protonix, Nexium, Zergerid, etc) and they would only work for a week at best so I take half a Zergerid and an OTC Pepsid if I have to. 

FYI - I was taking Zergerid 2x a day, and an OTC Prilosec and I thought I was going to kill my liver!!! 

Give the liquid diet a try and get a hold of some Carafate if you can. Stay on the PPI's until you feel you can come off.   I hope you get relief soon!

Oh and take some sugar free yogurt as a snack before bed.

 

Post Edited (Tocra) : 12/7/2007 10:37:09 AM (GMT-7)